Making Homemade Ketchup

Recently the same brand of ketchup we have been using for years has started causing me to have a soy reaction each time I eat even the tiniest amount. Although the label hasn’t changed and soy is not listed, it’s obvious that this ketchup does now contain soy. So ketchup has been added to that ever-growing list of foods that I have to make from scratch.

Happily, ketchup is amazingly easy to make. I make only a small batch at a time, but if you’re lucky enough to have lots of fresh tomatoes, larger batches of ketchup can also be processed in canning jars for longer-term storage.

I start with a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, or an equivalent amount of cooked-down fresh tomatoes and juice. The fresh tomatoes are nice, but not really necessary… canned tomatoes make really good ketchup. I mix in 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. These ingredients are always a constant for this quantity of tomatoes because the vinegar and brown sugar cooked into the tomatoes is what gives ketchup its distinctive taste.

Next come the flavorings. I usually vary the flavorings batch to batch. Today I used one medium onion, one small green pepper, three cloves of garlic, and three stalks of celery. I chopped all the vegetables and sauteed the onions in a tiny amount of olive oil until they were transparent… then added the vegetables to the tomato and vinegar mixture. I also added about a tablespoon each of celery seeds and mustard seeds and let everything simmer together for at least an hour… or until the mixture had achieved a ketchup consistency. I taste the mixture as it cooks… if I think it needs more of something (like more garlic), I just add it in. Some people add cinnamon, cloves, coriander, allspice, or bay leaves. You can make a hot ketchup by adding red pepper flakes. There are lots of ketchup recipes “out there,” but I have had really good results following the basic method I described above and adding flavorings to taste… always keeping in mind that all the flavors will intensify as the ketchup cools.

I use my food processor to puree the tomato mixture until it is smooth. A blender works well, too. Ketchup made with a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes will fill three pint jars after the tomato mixture has cooked down. I have no idea how long an opened container of homemade ketchup will keep in the refrigerator, but I would not expect it to last as long as purchased ketchup, so I keep only a small amount in the refrigerator and freeze or process the rest. I have even frozen ketchup in ice cube trays so I can take out the exact amount I will be using.

Written by Shirley | Filed Under Cooking & Baking from Scratch, Frugality & Nutrition series, Living with a Soy Allergy, My Family's Favorite Recipes, My Soy-Free Recipes

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